A couple came to us looking for a way to consolidate their existing debts to make them easier to manage and reduce their monthly outgoings. They had built up balances on a number of credit cards and had a few personal loans and mail order accounts that they wanted to clear up – the total added up to £44,000.
One of the applicants was unemployed and a full-time carer, and the other was only able to work part-time. This meant that a large percentage of the clients’ income came from various benefits and allowances, making them unsure whether they would qualify for a product.
Some lenders have a strict set of criteria when it comes to using benefit income, however we have access to a lender who was able to use the clients’ benefit income in full and offer a facility that fitted within the clients’ budget.
This meant that we were able to offer a product which cleared up all of their current debts and transferred them to a lower interest rate. The result was that their outgoings on debt repayment were reduced from just over £1,000 per month to £480!
The client came to us looking for funds to renovate a property that he was renting out. He used to live in the property himself, but he had very recently moved to a separate rental property with his partner and wanted to keep the property that he owned as an investment.
As the client had previously lived in the property, this made it suitable for secured borrowing as the client was not a professional landlord. As a broker, we have access to secured loan products for properties that are known as ‘consumer buy-to-lets’.
There were a couple of potential hurdles with this case which we identified at the start of the process and were able to overcome. The client had been renting the property out for less than a month so there was no proof of rental income. His address history was also tricky, having only just moved house. He had also just refinanced his first charge mortgage to a buy-to-let product, which would usually make getting consent for a second charge product difficult. This is because some mortgage lenders require customers to have had the facility for a certain period of time before they will allow a second charge product to be secured against the property.
We were able to raise the full amount that the client needed, on a competitive interest rate and over a loan term that fitted within the client’s desired budget.
We found a product which meant that we didn’t need consent to be granted from the first charge mortgage lender. The lender that we chose also didn’t require any proof of rental income as we were able to use his personal income instead.
The couple came to us as they were looking for a way to clear a couple of high-interest personal loans and credit cards and to raise funds for home improvements. Their property was worth £225,000 with a current outstanding mortgage facility of £148,000.
Speed of service was really important to the clients, and we pulled out all the stops to make sure that everything was done within their required timescale.
After speaking to the clients and then completing all of the application forms and required documents on their behalf, we were able to get everything back to them within an hour for signing. Upon receipt of the signed documents, the case was submitted to the lender just before midday.
By 4.30pm the same day, the loan was legally offered to the clients. The lender we used offers a ‘Home Collect’ service, so the offer documents were delivered to the clients the same evening for signing and then returned to the lender first thing the following morning. The money was in the clients’ bank account before midday.
We were able to raise the clients £36,000 within 24 hours of submission , with a Loan to Value of 95%, in order to fund their home improvements and transfer a high interest personal loan and a credit card to a much lower rate.
This client initially came to us looking for funds to pay for a new kitchen.
However, after speaking to client we found that he had just over £28,000 outstanding on credit cards and personal loans which he had built up through caring for family members. One of these loans was on an APR of 770% and his debt was costing him over £775 per month in just minimum payments.
While working on the case, we also found that there was a Bankruptcy Notice on the Title Register which was against the previous owner of the property and wasn’t anything to do with our client. This initially caused some difficulty with the lender, so it was up to us to resolve the matter.
After getting in touch with Land Registry and the Council associated with the Bankruptcy Notice, we were able to get this removed from the Register for our client and progress the secured loan application.
We were able to raise our client £30,000 in order to clear off the majority of his existing credit and raise him the additional funds required for his new kitchen. This was in addition to removing a Bankruptcy Notice charged against the client’s property which he previously knew nothing about.
We transferred all of the credit to a better interest rate and will save the client just under £400 per month.
The clients were looking for a secured loan to clear £48,000 worth of credit cards and personal loans that they had built up over the last few years. They also wanted some additional funds to landscape their garden and put in a new bathroom.
They didn’t have a mortgage, so they were looking for a first charge product. Due to the main purpose of the loan facility – debt consolidation – high street mortgage lenders were unable to help. The clients also needed the money as soon as possible and most mortgage products, through prime lenders, can take up to 3 months to arrange.
One of the applicants had also only been with their current employer for less than a month and hadn’t been in continuous employment for 12 months, which can cause a problem when you want to take out a mortgage. However, our experience and relationship with the lenders meant that we were still able to get this to work and arrange the funding for our clients.
We were able to raise £70,000 for our clients on a first charge mortgage product within just a couple of weeks of being submitted to the lender. We refinanced their existing unsecured debts to a much lower interest rate and raised the additional funds that they needed for home improvements.
The client came to us looking for £15,000 to purchase a new kitchen and to also clear up a high interest credit card. She already had a mortgage on her property, and she had only recently taken out a second charge secured loan to fund other home improvements. She hadn’t had the secured loan for long enough to request a further advance from her current lender, and we didn’t want to clear this off because doing so would have incurred early repayment charges for the client.
We were able to source a third charge product which raised the additional funds that the client needed for her home improvements, whilst keeping her current mortgage and secured loan in place, so that she didn’t incur any fees or penalties.
At the same time we were able to transfer the credit card to a better interest rate.
The self-employed client had a property worth £200,000 and a mortgage of £46,000. His previous business went under 2 years ago and he needed £40,000 to settle the balance of the money owing from that business.
He was unable to obtain a mortgage as he didn’t meet the income criteria, however we were able to assist him to obtain a secured loan to meet his needs. An offer was issued to the client within 2 hours of his initial enquiry at a rate of 8.7%.
We can typically help people with secured loans where:
Whilst secured loan lenders need strong proof of income, they are often more flexible on income criteria, looking at the client’s net income and outgoings, rather than working off strict multiples.
The client had an existing secured loan of £52,000, costing them £435 per month, at an interest rate of 7.9%. They also had an outstanding balance of £29,000 on credit cards, which was costing them £885 per month, meaning that they were only able to reduce the balance by a minimal amount each month.
We arranged a new secured loan for £82,500, over the same term as their existing loan, which cost them £608 per month. The new loan was arranged on a lower rate of 6.4%, fixed for the first 3 years and gave them significant savings on their monthly outgoings.
The client planed to remortgage after the 3 year period and, as the application was placed with Shawbrook Bank, they could make over payments at any time without penalty. Under the new terms they also had the option to repay the loan early with only a 28 days’ notice charge and a £195 discharge fee. This allowed them to pay the loan down earlier if they wish to, without incurring significant penalties.
Last updated: 22 November 2023 | © KIS Bridging Loans 2024